AThe Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, September 14, 1958
Tal, Gligoric Lead Interzonal Chess
With one more round remaining to be contested in the Interzonal Chess Tournament at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, Mikhail Tal, the Soviet national champion, continues in the lead, according to a report from the New York Times.
Tal has a score of 13-6 and is certain to finish first or second, depending on the outcome of the final round, in which he is paired with James T. Sherwin of New York.
Svetozar Gligoric of Yugoslavia, who has advanced rapidly, with four wins and a draw in his last five games, is second with 12½-6½. His last-round opponent is U.S. Champion Bobby Fischer. This will be a vital encounter for both players.
Tigran Petrosian of Russia, after leading for most of the tournament, only scored four points of his last nine games. He has completed his schedule with a tally of 12½-7½.
In fourth place is Paul Benko, who earned his place in the tournament as a representative of Hungary, but has now established residence in the U.S. Benko has 12-7, with seven wins, 10 draws and losses only to Tal and Oscar Panno of Argentina. Benko's final game is with Otto Neikirch of Bulgaria.
Fischer, with 11½-7½, is tied for fifth place with David Bronstein of Russia. The 15-year-old Brooklyn schoolboy kept pace with the leaders last week, with three draws and a win.
The drawn games, all rather uneventful, were against Ludek Pachman of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Matanovic of Yugoslavia and Dr. Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia. Fischer then defeated Rodolfo Cardoso of the Philippine Islands in a bishop-versus-knight ending that lasted 62 moves.
Sherwin, the other American representative in the tournament, took a game from Fridrik Olafsson of Iceland. This was his total of the week, however, as Sherwin lost in succession to Bent Larsen of Denmark and Raul Sanguinetti and Oscar Panno of Argentina.
According to the latest report from Portoroz, the six leading players will qualify for the Challenger's Tournament, to be held next year. Tal, Gligoric and Petrosian are certain to advance. Fischer has good prospects, depending, of course, on his final battle with Gligoric.
